Thanks to Dave Rowntree for many of the player images after 1984.
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MACAULAY GILLESPHEY
Born: 24 November 1995
Came from: Brisbane Roar, Australia Went to: Charlton Athletic
First game: 07 August 2021 Last game: 26 December 2023
Appearances: 91 (78/13) Goals: 4
Gillesphey became Ryan Lowe's third new signing of the 2021 close season, and his third new defender when the 25-year-old returned from two years in Australia.
Ashington-born Gillesphey began his career with Cramlington Juniors before progressing through Newcastle United's youth academy to sign a professional contract for the Magpies in March 2015. Six months later he joined Carlisle United on a season-long loan, and his senior debut was one to cherish when he entered the fray as a 73rd minute substitute in a 1-1 League Cup draw with Premier League giants Liverpool at Anfield, the Reds eventually scraping through on penalties.
Gillesphey returned to Brunton Park the following summer for another full-season loan, and then returned to Newcastle for the 2017-18 campaign in which he appeared three times for the Newcastle Under-21 side in the Football League Trophy. After his contract at St James' Park was not renewed in the summer of 2018, he headed back to Carlisle for a third spell, this time on a permanent deal, and went on to add 30 more appearances to an eventual total of 93 games for the Cumbrians.
In August 2019, Gillesphey touched down in Australia to sign for Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler at Brisbane Roar. In his two seasons in Queensland, the left-sided centre-back was a rock at the heart of the Roar's defence and a threat at set pieces, helping his club to a top-four finish in both A-League campaigns and winning the club's Player of the Year award for the coronavirus-impacted 2020-21 season.
Gillesphey's arrival at Home Park in the summer of 2021 was another significant step in the rebuild of the Pilgrims' defence; he was the third centre-back to join in a month, following James Wilson and Dan Scarr.
He would go on to become a regular member of the Pilgrims’ backline in the two seasons that followed, culminating in promotion to the Sky Bet Championship after Argyle finished top under Steven Schumacher with 101 points. During his time at Home Park, he made 91 appearances in total and weighed in with four goals. He will always be remembered for "that" goal against Chelsea, which put Argyle one-nil up at the home of the then European Champions in just the 8th minute of an FA Cup 4th round match in February 2022, which Argyle narrowly lost 2-1 after extra time.
Injury restricted his involvement in the early stages of Argyle's return to the Championship during the 2023-24 season and after making only three starts up until Christmas, he moved to League One Charlton Athletic in the January transfer window, signing a two-year contract with The Addicks for an undisclosed fee.
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APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]
The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.
I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.
The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.
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